Half-Year Book Tag: 2022

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a book tag (especially since I haven’t posted anything all week, lol!). Since it’s the time of year when we do those book tags that assess how our reading and book buying are going so far, I thought I’d drop in with the Half-Year Book Tag, which was created by BexnBookx.

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FAVORITE STANDALONE BOOK HAULED AND READ SO FAR IN 2022

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

It’s a sci-fi novella about a lonely scientist at a secluded outpost on another planet who gets caught up in the affairs of the planet’s inhabitants although he’s supposed to just observe them. I enjoyed the story immensely and loved that we sometimes get to read from the two main characters’ points of view on the same page.

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Good Intentions Book Tag

Here’s a tag that’s perfect for the beginning of the year when you’re making resolutions and all that. The Good Intentions Book Tag was created by Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog.

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Exercise more: This is a book that is a real chunkster, in fact, you will need help to even pick this book up.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

It’s over 800 pages long. I haven’t yet read it, but I want to. I watched part of the TV adaptation but didn’t finish it. I forgot why.

“As the Shadow Rises” by Katy Rose Pool

Here’s another one I read while in a funky mood, busy, and in the midst of a reading slump. I enjoyed the first book despite it being a YA novel and me having given up on YA novels, so I was looking forward to reading this second one. But, similar to my reading experience with Terry Pratchett’s Maskerade, I didn’t enjoy this much while reading (due to my mood at the time) but appreciated the story when briefly looking through before working on this review.

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Genre

YA Fantasy

Series

Age of Darkness, book 2

Pubbed

2020

From Goodreads

The Last Prophet has been found, yet he sees destruction ahead.

In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed There Will Come a Darkness, kingdoms have begun to fall to a doomsday cult, the magical Graced are being persecuted, and an ancient power threatens to break free. But with the world hurtling toward its prophesized end, Anton’s haunting vision reveals the dangerous beginnings of a plan to stop the Age of Darkness.

“Maskerade” by Terry Pratchett

I’m steadily working my way through the Witches books. These are a subseries of the Discworld fantasy series. The stories all take place on a flat world that lies on the backs of four elephants that stand atop a giant turtle floating through space. The books are all light, amusing reads.

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Genre

Fantasy

Series

Discworld, book 18
Witches, book 5

Pubbed

1995

From Goodreads

Death, to be precise. And plenty of it. In unpleasant variations. This isn’t real life – it’s worse. This is the Opera House, Ankh-Morpork…a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a mask and evening dress, with a penchant for lurking in shadows, occasional murder, and sending little notes full of maniacal laughter and exclamation marks. Opera can do that to a man.

Top 5 Tuesday #74: These Ones Give Summer Vibes

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah, the Bionic Book Worm, and now hosted by Meeghan at Meeghan Reads.

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This week’s topic:

Top 5 books that remind you of a season

I’m supposed to list books that remind me of the four seasons, but (luckily for Meeghan — HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!) I can only think of books that remind me of summer, lol! So here are five books that give me strong summer vibes.

To Night Owl From Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer

This one falls toward the older end of middle grade, bordering on YA. It’s a contemporary novel about two girls whose single dads are dating and want their daughters to meet and get along. It’s an epistolary novel, as the story is relayed via emails and texts the girls use to communicate. And it gives me summer vibes because it takes place in the summer while the girls are at camp and because it reminds me of the movie Parent Trap. The story is light, fun, and sweet.

Unforgettable Bookish Memories Tag

I enjoy doing book tags and have a bunch stored away to do on rainy days, so since today is a rainy day somewhere, I decided to designate it as a book tag day. From now on, Thursdays will be Book Tag Thursdays on here so I can get through all the tags I have stored up.

I found the Unforgettable Bookish Memories Tag on Never Not Reading years ago. The tag was created by Lisa at A Book Calls, but it seems that blog isn’t around anymore.

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No. 1: The First Book You Ever Read (or was read to you)

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

I can’t remember the first book I’ve ever read, but The Neverending Story is a childhood favorite and one of the first fantasy books I read. I loved the story as a kid and would like to reread it since I’ve forgotten much about it.

“Kushiel’s Avatar” by Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel’s Avatar is the last novel in Phèdre’s trilogy, which I actually began when I participated in a Wyrd & Wonder readalong for the first book, Kushiel’s Dart. I participated in a readalong for second book, Kushiel’s Chosen, as well and was so curious about how the story would end that I buddy-read this third book with Millie at Milliebot Reads.

It was a good read, and I had so many thoughts when done that I felt overwhelmed, procrastinated on doing this reflection, and now have so overdone it that it’s quite long with two summaries (yep, really overdid it).

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Genre

Fantasy

Series

Phèdre’s Trilogy, book 3

Pubbed

2003

Quick summary (for those new to the trilogy)

If you want to read high fantasy sword & sorcery but want something a bit different, I highly recommend this trilogy, especially if you have strong interest in myths and history and the like, as I do. The story isn’t exactly set in the real world (or you could argue it’s the real world but waaay in the past with some fantasy flourishes), but it is obvious how much religion (especially Catholicism), history, and certain cultures have influenced it.

Top Ten Tuesday #52: It’s About Time

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic:

Books with a unit of time in the title

I’ve decided to make this easy on myself and focus on books I haven’t yet read or thought of in a while.

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Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books by Nick Hornby
My First Day by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huỳnh Kim Liên
A Long Day in Lychford by Paul Cornell
The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich
The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
First Year by Rachel E. Carter
How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke

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Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you thought of it.

Wyrd & Wonder 2022 Wrap Up

Wyrd & Wonder is all done and won’t be back until next year. But there are other events to possibly look forward to in the fall, like Spooktastic Reads and SciFiMonth. But in the meantime, here’s my wrap up.

Wyrd & Wonder is a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy where participants can participate in any way they like, whether reading books, watching shows, playing games, anything. Thanks to the hosts — Imyril, Lisa, Jorie, Ariana, and Annemieke — who kept us abreast of everyone’s posts, we had a fun, interactive event. Shout out them!

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Here are what my plans were and how I did.

Read ONLY fantasy books in May.

This was easy and is the only goal I managed to accomplish, but I only managed to complete one book and that’s Charmed Life, the first book in this anthology of Diana Wynne Jones’s Chrestomanci middle grade books. Other than that, I started many books and have a buddy-read on going.